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Submission + - Former Google Exec: Facebook, Twitter Are Killing Search

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Former Google executive Stafford Masie believes that traditional search is dying because users are choosing to query their friends and followers on services like Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. Here's the quote from the video: 'The pie of search query volumes in the world – that business is shrinking. Why? Because people are going and doing search queries – search query volumes are moving towards social containers. They’re moving away from static pages being searched and they’re moving more towards dynamic real-time stream content. Like Twitter. Like Tumblr. Like Facebook. Those things have a better result because the penetration, the personalization associated with it, and the constant freshness of the content. So I believe that Google’s search volume – the business Google is in on the search side – that business is shrinking. And they’ve got to do something about it.'
Science

Submission + - Gecko-Inspired Adhesive Tape can be Reused Thousan (gizmag.com)

Submitted by Zothecula
Zothecula writes: As is so often the case these days for those searching for a better way to stick stuff together, researchers from the Zoological Institute at the University of Kiel in Germany have turned to the biology of gravity-defying ceiling walkers, such as geckos and insects. These creatures served as inspiration for a new dry adhesive tape that not only boasts impressive bonding strength, but can also be attached and detached thousands of times without losing its adhesive properties.
Education

Submission + - Why Do So Many College Science Majors Drop Out?

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Christopher Drew writes that President Obama and industry groups have called on colleges to graduate 10,000 more engineers a year and 100,000 new teachers with majors in science, technology, engineering and math but studies find that roughly 40 percent of students planning engineering and science majors end up switching to other subjects or failing to get any degree — 60 percent when pre-medical students are included. Middle and high school students are having most of the fun, building their erector sets and dropping eggs into water to test the first law of motion but the excitement quickly fades as students brush up against the reality of what David E. Goldberg calls “the math-science death march" as freshmen in college wade through a blizzard of calculus, physics and chemistry in lecture halls with hundreds of other students where many wash out. “Treating the freshman year as a ‘sink or swim’ experience and accepting attrition as inevitable,” says a report by the National Academy of Engineering, “is both unfair to students and wasteful of resources and faculty time.” But help is on the way. In September, the Association of American Universities announced a five-year initiative to encourage faculty members in the STEM fields to use more interactive teaching techniques (PDF). “There is a long way to go,” says Hunter R. Rawlings, the association’s president, “and there is an urgent need to accelerate the process of reform.”"
Science

Submission + - Evolution Machine Accelerates Genetic Engineering

Submitted by chrb
chrb writes: New Scientist has an article about the Evolution Machine — a device which can accelerate directed artificial evolution to discover desirable DNA changes in days rather than years. One of the aims of these researchers is to create an organism (and ultimately humans) that is genetically immune to all viruses.
Medicine

Submission + - Infertile Daughter To Receive Uterus From Mother (singularityhub.com)

Submitted by
kkleiner
kkleiner writes: "Led by Dr. Mats Brännström, a team of surgeons at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden are giving Sara Ottosson, now 25-years old, hope that she may one day fulfill her dream of giving birth to a baby. The uterus will come from a very special donor: Eva Ottosson, Sara’s mother. Sara’s operation will mark only the second time transplantation of a uterus has been attempted in humans, and the first time between a mother and daughter."

Submission + - Electronic Health Records Now In All Mil Hospitals (informationweek.com) 7

Submitted by smitty777
smitty777 writes: Information Week is reporting on the the inclusion of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) in all US military hospitals. This is significant in that it allows the sharing of patient information on a worldwide scale, improving care. This is leading a national trend, which is currently motivated by HIT Meaningful Use legislation which provides incentives for civilian physicicans to adopt EHRs. Not that the adoption is without challenges. The usability of EHRs is also an ongoing concern.
Iphone

Submission + - Samsung wants to see iPhone 5 and iPad 3 (tekgoblin.com) 1

Submitted by
tekgoblin
tekgoblin writes: "The suit against Samsung that Apple had filed back in April has been full of surprises recently and Apple even asked to see all of Samsung’s future devices. Now in a recent turn of events, Samsung is now requesting to view Apple’s upcoming devices such as the iPad 3 and iPhone 5."

Submission + - Japan's MagLev Get Go Ahead (japantoday.com)

Submitted by ThinkPad760
ThinkPad760 writes: The Japanese government has finally given approval to build the long awaited MagLev train linking Tokyo and Osaka via Nagoya.
But don't hold your breath. Construction will start in 2014. The Tokyo Nagoya section will be completed in 2027 with the final section to Osaka complete by 2045.
I was hoping my wife could buy me a ticket as my retirement present, but looks like I have a wait a couple of years after that.

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